Study On Difference Principle In John Rawls’ <A Theory Of Justice>

John Rawls(1921.2.21—2002.11.24)is one of the most popular political philosopher in the 20 th century among the English world and had published his famous work A theory of justice in 1971. A theory of justice, caused a big stir in the western countries, is regarded as one of the most important works in western political philosophy after the Second World War.Rawls puts forward the first inequality as application object, based on the design of the original state and the veil of ignorance, using the "reflective equilibrium" analysis method, derived from the two principles of justice step by step: the principle of equality, freedom, equality of opportunity and difference principle. The difference principle is: they are to be of the greatest benefit to the least-advantaged members of society. In Rawls’ view, the principle of equality, freedom and the principle of equality of opportunity only eliminate the unequal society caused by difference factors, not ruling out the difference between the natural factors. But this natural inequality is not only unable to self choice, but also cannot avoid in any realistic society. Therefore, Rawls proposed the difference principle of "the least-advantaged members of society" in the form of the compensation of the seemingly inequality to achieve the result equality. From the general justice "everyone’s interest" transition to the two justice principles of final statement "to be of the greatest benefit to the least-advantaged members of society”, this kind of perspective transformation is not only a key to understanding of Rawls’ theory of justice, but also is the essence of Rawls’ justice principle. In Rawls’ view, difference principle also showed the idea of equality, mutual love and social cooperation system concept. However, the difference principle has caused great controversy: whether to infringe the individual rights, whether to kill the effort of the individual, "the greatest benefit" and whether the determination of the "the least-advantaged members of society" is moral ? Rawls has carried on the answers to these questions.In contemporary China, there are huge inequalities, such as the gap between rich and poor, the marginalization of the weak, educational unfairness etc. Facing the unfair phenomenon, we’d better apply the Rawls’ difference principle in our society: facing the unfair phenomenon, paying more attention to vulnerable groups, so as to establish a mutually beneficial cooperation in society system.